Defending Barry Zito…sort of

Really, this is the biggest thing on my mind. It probably doesn’t matter to you, but Barry Zito stood at his locker for 10 minutes and answered more than a dozen questions we put to him after another horrible performance today. While he can be a bit vague with his answers sometimes, I think he is honest with us and he has stood up to take every single question this season.

I know, I know. That means squat when he’s 2-11, pitching the Giants out of games early, and oh yeah, in case anyone forgot, he’s making $126 million and you’re stuck with him for another five-plus years. Please understand that I’m not trying to defend what is obviously a completely indefensible record of performance.

Here’s my point: I know fans don’t care whether athletes are nice to the media or not. But in this case, I think Zito’s professionalism says a lot about his character. He is trying his best. The problem is bigger than he is, but he isn’t trying to find an escape hatch. He is facing it the best he can and he is being as accountable as he can be. That includes standing at his locker after every start.

Well, maybe it only means something to me, but in how he is publicly handling the whole debacle, I think Zito is revealing something very admirable about his character.

Andrew Baggarly

Andrew Baggarly has documented the most eventful era in San Francisco Giants baseball history, having covered the team since 2004 for th​ree major media outlets including the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune​. This is his 20th season as a baseball writer.
​Baggarly is the author of the bestselling book, A Band of Misfits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants, and the newly published Giant Splash: Bondsian Blasts, World Series Parades and Other Thrilling Moments By the Bay. Baggarly’s other notable life accomplishments include running as the Bratwurst in the Milwaukee Sausage Race and becoming a three-time Jeopardy! champion.

Post navigation

Well, you guys reporters suck. Would you rather have Bonds or Zito on your team ? A nice guy who could not pitch or a guy who can help you win ? Please zito is talking b/c he has to. OK.

John C

If he goes through the rest of the season performing as poorly as he has thus far, he can show his stellar character by retiring from baseball. If he can’t do the job anymore, he shouldn’t be taking money for it.
Somehow I don’t think he’ll be revealing quite that much character. I think we can safely look forward to five more years of honest, forthright, post-loss comments.

Drew

Well I heard about Damon Bruce & Zito and I think it’s kind of funny. Lucky for me I have inside sources at the sports leader. A shame that no media member has done any more than hint at things…Obviously the rest of the media is afraid of getting denied like Bruce so they are keeping shut about it. Cmon Baggs…spill it, if you come clean now, you’ll have the moral high ground and the team can’t blacklist you or any other media member…

/I’d talk about the Bruce thing, but that’s what reporters are supposed to do, not people posting on their blogs…

bob

Zito is a good guy, and speaking to the media after each debacle is admirable.
So, he is a quasi-stand up guy (he never says anything from the heart). It’s cool. No problem…but he is done as an effective big league pitcher.
I’m sorry. This is not a slump, or a “rough patch.” He is now, more often than not, utterly terrible. And he easily could be 1-12.

Saying “Oh, Zito will be fine,” now is thoroughly delusional…(Pls fwd to Michael “softball” Urban).
Zito by all accounts works hard, and I feel for the guy (a teeny bit). But really, has he not been consistently crappy his entire stay in SF?? Do we not have a predictable pattern here each time he climbs the “bump”?

Some careers die early. It happens. Zito’s role now should be mop-up in a blowout loss, if the Giants have to keep him.

Even in his struggles, he would be far more endearing if he would speak more genuinely…how it hurts him, what his plan of attack is, instead of trying to take the arrogant, superficial high road that, “dude, I’m sorry we lost a another game that I started. I just have to stay with the process.”

What???

That certainly is part of why he is unliked in SF, where folks are cool and forgiving if only you are genuine.

Tee

I feel bad for Zito. He really does seem like a nice guy and takes the criticism with composure a lot better than most could. I hope he turns it all around. Kudos for defending Zito, I know many in the media asking for his head.

Zito is not, and has never been a natural-born pitcher. He is the epitome of the child protege who having been born without a lot of innate talent, is force fed skill lessons from a very early age. While he is a big guy at 6-4 and 220 lbs, he “throws” like a small guy. His windup is herky jerky and never really develops (ed) any real power. His release point is significantly further from the plate than any power pitcher of the same stature, thus giving hitters even more time to in which to pull the trigger on his now semi-pro “stuff”.

Many like to compare Zito to Greg Maddux when addressing his recent woes. “He should transition to a finesse pitcher like Maddux or Glavine, is a common refrain around the fan sites.” I prefer to contrast Zito with Maddux rather than compare him. Zito actually has little in common with Greg Maddux.

Great pitches have three things going for them, as we all know. Velocity, Movement, and of course the hackneyed overused “command” or control.

Maddux, despite his reputation as a pie-tosser, always threw in the low nineties, high eighties. His velocity was made more deceptive by two things: His hypnotic batting-practice looking delivery; and despite his being only 6 feet tall, his exceedingly long arms and long stride, gave him a release point of a a guy 3 to 5 inches taller, ergo closer to the plate, giving hitters less time to react. Nobody I know, calls a guy 6-5 who throws 92 mph with lots of movement a “finesse” pitcher. Even today, Maddux who rarely breaks 87mph, has tons of movement on all of his pitches. His release point never varies and he does not tip his pitches either physically, nor tactically. His control of the strike zone is legendary and is still so good, that he can still roll a lineup over 3 times per game. When is the last time Mr. Zito got through a lineup even twice with effectiveness?

Zito on the other hand, has no natural throwing motion. His delivery always has been very contrived, mechanical, and overly compacted, to compensate for his lack of a natural superior throwing motion. While he is 6-4, he throws more like he is 5-10. His release point seems to be further away from the plate than anybody else his size. His fastball is that of a good high-school senior in terms of velocity and not much better in terms of movement. Only his control is better. And unlike Maddux, or even Trevor Hoffman of recent years gone by, a rather pedestrian change up, to accompany his blase’ slider. Unfortunately, neither his slider, nor his change up are barely that of the average college pitcher. The only superior pitch in his repertoire is his curveball–which he cannot throw for strikes anymore. At least consistently. He is thirty years old. While there is no apparent injury, he has been pitching competitively for 20 years. Guys wear down. It happens. For the truly gifted, they can hang on for years even. See Randy Johnson, Curt Shilling, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Steve Carlton, Gaylord Perry, Rick Reuschel ad infinitum. But for guys who are marginally good to begin with, the fall off is often rapid. Kirk Rueter, Atlee Hammaker, Shawn Estes come to mind.

So. What to do? Given the current state and the direction the Giants are attempting to take with guys like Cain, Lincecum, Sanchez, Corriea, Zito’ ineptness seems even more out of place, than if he were surrounded by guys like Matt Morris, Kirk Rueter, and Brett Tomko. When and if Lowry comes back, Zito’s continued presence will be even more annoying to fans.

As a player whether grinding it out like Winn, Durham, and the rest of the older players, or trying to secure a future and develop into a bona-fide MLBer, like Bowker, Lewis, Burris etc, playing every 5th day when you know the guy on the pimple is going to take you out of contention before the 5th inning is more than a little discouraging….despite what is put out there for public consumption. I guarantee you, there is not one single solitary soul wearing Giants laundry that doesn’t have heartburn leading up to Zito’s starts. Make no doubt about it, if we know the ONLY reason he is still being sent out to the pimple every fifth day, is because of his contract, and it raises our ire, how do you think the guys who are actually producing and earning less than 10percent of what he does, when this guy is hurting their performance as well with his marathon innings, feel?

Look. Everybody knows its a business, and he is trying his best. But the bottom line is baseball is a team sport with emphasis on individual performance. Everybody goes through slumps. But it is clear his time is over. The Detroit Tigers sent D-Train to Single A to straighten his stuff out. And D-Train is a bigger name than Zito. So to keep running Zito out there is a disgrace to the Giants and a disgrace to Zito.

Where in the hell is his self-respect? He has made 15 starts so far this year. He has made an absolute ass of himself in more than half of those. Not even Rick Ankiel worthy. Pooh-flinging nibbling performances while looking like somebody facing a firing squad the whole time.

Detroit pulled the trigger on Willis…in his first year in a Tigers uniform. Time for the Giants to do the same. Zito is an embarrassment to himself, his teammates, and the franchise. I’m sure if he wants to continue to be a nice guy wearing too-tight pants, he can do it in the Northern League pitching for Duluth Dukes.

wfan1

Hey Zito shows character unlike Bonds. Writers like Bags coudl not wait to trash Bonds but he would stand up for a non-perfomer like Zito. Pathetic. Truely pathetic.

wfan1

btw what Zito gonna to do after another crappy performance? tell the reporters to **** Off? Silly reasoning by the beat writer. Character my ass.

mxmob33

Zito is the perfect contrast to Bonds and I think it just underlines the disconnect between media and fans.

Fans care about performance and winning. We don’t buy tickets to come into the locker room, or hang out with these guys before games. Too many media members do their job with a personal bias.

We are constantly feed stories about how Zito is a nice, stand-up guy, who’s working hard, and we should feel bad for him.

Barry Lamar, despite constantly giving us the greatest on-field performance of our lifetimes, was blasted at every opportunity.

Andrew Baggarly

There is no great secret to spill, really.

From what I understand, Matt Cain refused to talk to Damon Bruce after his start Saturday because of what several players perceive as a pattern of insensitivity. It isn’t just the Zito question. Apparently, Bruce made a joke about the sprinklers going off during the annual Giants-A’s wives’ softball game and he said they should have turned it into a wet T-shirt contest. Several players were not happy and confronted him about it.

It’s not my place to critique how another media member does his or her job. I can only say that as a journalist, I am compelled to be as objective, fair and impartial as possible while covering the team. We expect the players to conduct themselves as professionals (as Zito has), and they expect the same from us. We are in their workspace every day, after all.

It doesn’t mean they are immune from criticism. Far from it. But you run into a real danger zone when the criticism gets emotional or overheated. A columnist might have greater license for that, but not me. It’s funny, in this new media landscape, people really seem to want more commentary from the beat reporters. But I still believe the essence of my job is unchanged: To present the facts and let you make up your own mind.

Greg Lipford

The whole situation is disgusting. Apparently, no one can talk about how pathetic, stupid and embarrassing the Giants are in that evening slot without the team wanting him fired.

Bags is right about his job, but Bruce is not beat reporter, or a reporter of any kind. The players apparently want to be insulated from the reality of their incompetence, and frankly, if there were more pointed questions poised to Zito, he also might not be so willing to issue platitudes in front of his locker after another loss.

Baron

Barney Wood… so many great points, and one utterly ridiculous one….

…”made a complete ass out of himself in more than half” of his starts? What are you smoking? He’s only given up more than 3 ER in six of his starts. Sure he doesn’t have many “quality” starts, but you can hardly characterize giving up 3 or less ER in 5 or more innings “making an ass of youself”. Try a little less hyperbole next time and you might leave more of the focus ono the good points you made…

Steve

How about scheduling Zito for Tommy John surgery. Sometimes guys come back throwing harder than before the surgery. Perhaps a ligament replacement is just what he needs to actually hit 90 on his fastball again.

On the other hand, they do more with less, and it’s impossible to lay a stink bomb of this magnitude in Oakland, thanks to the Miracle Worker himself.

For the record, I met Robert Buan at a charity event several years back. Nice fellow. Does a quality job. But someone has to be the sharpshooter when it comes to this debacle. We’re almost too good at putting up with bad teams around here…

JL

MR. WOOD,

Although you have some very valid points about Zito’s incapablitites, but to go as far as saying that Zito is and never was a good pitcher is pushing too far. Zito apparently has the ability to be a good pitcher and maybe he just lacks the self confidence from everyone verbally pounding him. He obviously can pitch…(see Oakland Athletics). No way you can tell me that someone who beats out Pedro Martinez for a Cy Young in 2002 and makes the All Star team in 02 03 & 06 does not have talent. He did not miss a start his whole career with the A’s and was top ten in the MLB in wins, innings, and ERA from 02-06. TOP TEN!!! That is saying alot when you have alot of good guys in the MLB…Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Curt Schilling. And those 5 years he was up there with the best of them. In my opinion he went down hill when i went to the Giants. HE should have stayed with the A’s. I still think he is a good pitcher and he just needs time. I know Giants fans are tired of it…but i think hell turn around….

nostockstjustbonds

Zito can reveal his character by returning most of the money that the Giants are paying him. He hasn’t earned it. He’s absolute garbage. I’d certainly prefer it if he were a total a-hole and pitched great, than to suck and be a nice guy to media. But he’s not. And the guys who decided to give this lump of crap a 7 year deal for$126M should be fired, too!

Bonds might have been an a-hole to the media (who certainly are full of a-holes themselves!), but at least he performed on the field when everyone was watching…you know, his job! These guys aren’t paid to talk to the media, so however they do that is just irrelevant.